Author Guidelines

By submitting to JCS: Journal of Community Studies, authors attest that the submission:

1. is an original work, free from any form of plagiarism (text, data, and figures).
2. has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration by another journal.
3. has been approved by all co-authors and relevant authorities (e.g. an institution or sponsor).
4. has been (to the best of the authors’ abilities) written in good English or Bahasa Indonesia and is free of grammatical errors. It has been checked with a proofreading tool (e.g. Grammarly) and, if possible, proofread by a language editor.

Online Submission

Submissions to JCS: Journal of Community Studies should be through the online submission system. There are no strict formatting requirements for the initial submission, as long as the article structure conforms with our guidelines (see the manuscript structure section below). Manuscripts that advance to the revision stage will then be required to be formatted appropriately (see the formatting section). This enables authors to focus on the scientific content of their manuscript, along with speeding up the article’s processing time.

Author registration. Authors without an JCS: Journal of Community Studies account are required to create an account before beginning their submission. Make sure that the “Author” role is selected in the Role dropdown menu, otherwise, you will not be able to proceed with the submission.

Author(s) data. The submitting author is required to complete the author(s) data during the submission. Please ensure that the affiliation addresses are complete and written exactly as they appear on the manuscript. 

Manuscript metadata. Please complete at least the following information related to the manuscript:

Title - Fill in the manuscript title field in the title case.

Abstract - Paste the abstract into the abstract field; make sure that the formatting is consistent with the manuscript (e.g. superscript and italics).

Keywords - Provide a maximum of six words/phrases, separated by semicolons (;).

References - References should be written in accordance with the APA (JCS: Journal of Community Studies’s chosen reference style), including the DOIs (if any). Separate each individual reference with a blank line.

Manuscript Structure Guide

Title. Use a concise and informative title in the title case, with a maximum of 16 words.

Affiliation. Provide each author’s affiliation, no abbreviation, including the city and country.

Abstract. Should consist of a single paragraph of 150 to 200 words. Provide the background and objective of the paper, its principal results, and its conclusions. Avoid using abbreviations and citations.

Keywords. Include a maximum of six keywords or phrases, separated using a semicolon (;). Use specific, relevant terms, so that the article is easier to find in search engines. Do not use terms that are too general or too long.

Introduction. This section should briefly explain the background of the study of community engagement, provide a short review of the pertinent literature, state the originality of the research, and state the research and/or program objectives. This section also covers the factual and actual problems, challenges, or requirements needed by a community related to the research purposes.

Literature or conceptual review (if necessary). A literature review is both a summary and explanation of the complete and current state of knowledge on a limited topic as found in academic books and journal articles. A conceptual analysis would only include a reference to those works that are necessary for the analysis (although subjectively omitting works that may run counter to the analysis is not acceptable in a scientific work).

Methodology of research or program design. Combine the methods and procedures used in one narrative passage. Enough information should be provided to enable the repetition of the research. For commercial sources of the materials, the name of the company, and the town and country in which they are located should be indicated. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference, with only the relevant modifications described here; e.g. “Powder solubility was evaluated according to the method proposed by Smith (2000), with modifications. In the case of this study, powders were stirred in 25 mL of distilled water for 5 min using a blender.”; or “The powder solubility test followed the method of Smith (2000), with modifications in water volume. Powders were stirred in 25 mL of distilled water for 5 min using a blender.”

Results. Describe the outcome of the study. Data should be presented as concisely as possible, and in the form of tables or figures if appropriate, although very large tables should be avoided. If needed, this section can be combined with the Discussion section into a Results and discussion section.

Discussion (if necessary). This section should be an interpretation of the results of the work (not a repetition of them) in the context of previous research. Avoid excessive referencing of published literature. If needed, this section can be combined with the Results section into a Results and discussion section.

Conclusions. The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a standalone “Conclusions” section or included as a subsection of the “Discussion” section.

Acknowledgments. Acknowledge anyone who contributed to the research and/or program, as well as any funding or grants received in support of it. The names of funding organizations should be written in full, along with the grant numbers, if available. List any individuals who helped you during the study (e.g. assistance with study design or analysis, or guidance through a study area), or writing of the article (e.g. providing advice on the language, editing, or proofreading the article).

References. List all items alphabetically. Literature cited during the construction of the paper is included in the bibliography. For the purposes of efficiency and conciseness, avoid using more than 30 references and less than 7, consisting of a fair ratio of journal and book references from at least 10 recent years. JCS: Journal of Community Studies uses an APA (American Psychological Association) citation system.

Appendix (if necessary). Any supplemental files such as questionnaires and other supporting data not more than 3 pages.

Formatting Details

Please note that JCS: Journal of Community Studies’s editors have the right to change an article’s formatting to adhere to the journal’s style or maintain consistency.

Page setup. Paper size set to A4 (margin 2.5 cm). Times New Roman 12pt, 1.25 spacing.

Headings. Use no more than three levels of headings. Instead of using heading pointers with a numerical system, JCS: Journal of Community Studies  is using a modified APA’s unique headings and seriation style, that is using a Flush Left Bold Title Case (level 1), a FLush Left Bold Italic Title Case (level 2), and an Indented Bold Title Case (level 3). For glance information, consult it on https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_headings_and_seriation.html

Abbreviations. Abbreviations should be given at the first instance of the full term and used consistently thereafter.

Figures and Tables

Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text. Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text. Please supply editable files.

Figure size and quality. When preparing your figures, the size should be on a proper fit size (width and height). Ensure that images are of sufficiently high resolution to be easily viewable (minimum of 300 dpi).

Table size. Size tables to fit in the column width.

Figures and tables numbering. Every table and figure should be cited in the text in numerical order using Arabic numerals (i.e. Figure 2 cannot be cited before Figure 1). Tables should be referred to as “Table” and figures as “Figure” (not “Fig.”). Place table footnotes below the table, indicating them with superscripted lowercase letters or asterisks (for significance values and other statistical data). Denote figure parts with lowercase letters (e.g. Figure 1a, Figure 1b). These letters should also be embedded in the figures. Tables and figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals.

Table and figure captions and source. Every table and figure should have a title or caption, which should be concise but clear enough to explain its main components independently from the text. All figures and tables must be cited consecutively in the text. If the table or figure contains previously published material, cite the original source at the end of the caption. If the results are expressed as a percentage, state the absolute value(s) that correspond to 100%. State in the caption if a figure has been altered or enhanced in any way.

Figure formatting. Photographs must have internal scale markers and symbols, and arrows or letters should contrast greatly with the background. Where photographs of gel, autoradiograms, and so on have been processed to enhance their quality, this should be stated. The costs of color printing will be incurred by the author.

Italicization. Words of non-English origin should be italicized, except for terms that are widely used in the English language; e.g. kayu manis and zimt but in vitro and vice versa. Do not italicize words for emphasis. Words in Bahasa Indonesia should be following the Pedoman Umum Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia (PUEBI) format.

Numbers. Spell out numbers of less than two digits (i.e. eight, nine, 10, 11), except when using them in a technical context or to present data, such as in the materials and methods or results. Spell out “percent” in text, and do not use the symbol (%), except in tables or figures or when presenting materials (e.g. 70% ethanol).

Units of measurement. In general, JCS: Journal of Community Studies adheres to the International System of Units (SI) for how units of measurement are written, with several deviations to remain consistent with the journal.

Historical usage. The rules for the most common units are as follows:

Unit	Example	Note
Temperatur	30°C	No space after the number
Volume	ml, l
Time	d h min s	day(s) hour(s) minute(s) second(s)
Percentage	100%	No space after the number

 

Manuscript Processing Time

The time required for the review process is dependent on the response of the reviewer(s). Should the reviewer’s reports be unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. The Editor’s decision will be sent to the author with recommendations made by the reviewer(s), which usually includes verbatim comments. Revised manuscripts might be returned to the initial reviewer(s) who may then request another revision of a manuscript.

As a timing estimation, it will need as early as days and as late as three months to go through the initial process up to the final decision, and the publication later. However, it might be different based on any single case.

Language Editing

Authors whose first language is not English (and many times even those for whom it is) will greatly increase the chance of their article being published if it is checked by a language editor or native speaker prior to its submission. A well-written manuscript enables editors and reviewers to accurately assess the content of the manuscript, thus accelerating the reviewing process. It also ensures that the scientific merit of the research can be fully conveyed to readers. JCS: Journal of Community Studies also provides language editing and translation services for an additional cost (optional).

Submission Checklist

Author(s) can use the following checklist when preparing their submission: 

Files to send

• Manuscript file (in doc, docx, or rtf format), include the images (png, jpeg, tiff, eps, svg, pdf; at least 300 dpi), graphs and tables.

General formatting

• 2500-6000 words and/or 9-20 pages in length.
• Written in good English spelling or proper Bahasa Indonesia for scientific publication. 
• Standard 12pt Times New Roman font; 1.25 spaced.

The manuscript is sent through the online submission here: LINK. Author(s) is/are also required to fill in the submission statement form.

 

Article Publication Charges (APC)

This journal has an article publication charges policy. Consult this dedicated page to know in detail: Author Fees.

Withdrawal of Manuscripts

The author is not allowed to withdraw submitted manuscripts, because the withdrawal is a waste of valuable resources that editors and reviewers spent a great deal of time processing submitted manuscripts and works invested by the publisher. Moreover, if there is an unethical reason to withdraw due to a double submission to another journal. For further information regarding the withdrawal policy, consult the Author Fees page.